Ireland enjoys a favourable reputation worldwide and is a beloved spot for backpackers and lovers of green, if misty, landscapes. The Irish are generally hospitable and love a bit of craic (fun). The land has changed rather dramatically between my first and my last visits, respectively 1995 and 2004, benefiting from an economic boom and the wealth that goes with it. Hence there are more cars, modern houses and high prices for everything, but that's nothing new for the inhabitant of the Eurozone. Still, it's worth a visit as it still has lots of charm.

This chocolate Guinness cupcake is somewhat misleading in its Valentine's attire, but that is a long story. The recipe is here, or in Feast if you own it,and if you don't, you should. I halved the proportions and ended up with 12 medium-sized cupcakes. Didn't bother to ice them. They are nice little chocolate cakes, but I am afraid they are nothing special for the chocolate cake lover, but that may be because I used 60…

What's the missing link, I hear you ask. None. After going up and down Harrod's schlepping our rucksacks with us ( not on our backs, but at our hands, the Harrod's bouncers tell you that), and, to be fair, letting the Man schlep both bags (our overnight stuff plus some shopping done before in there), looking for elusive Nigella products and taking advantage of the grandly-named Luxury bathrooms, sparing a thought for Diana and Dodi as the lift soared, being very disappointed at the poor range of Living Kitchen items on display and drooling over Le Creuset ovenware that isn't commonly available here (the land of Le Creuset somehow) but way too heavy to add to the schlepping....well, after all that, and a visit to the Old Spitalfields Market beforehand, we were both starving. Craving Indian food.So we crossed the street (that's where the photo was taken) and looked unexpectantly around until we stumbled on a signed that said, somewhat unappealingly and cheap-style &…

The Daddy and I were faced with a challenge : where to dine in London? Before we left, we had booked a table at a posh English restaurant (Rules, also in Cvt Gadn), but finally decided to leave that aside and decide spur-of-the-momentish, whether to go for Indian food, or to a pub, or somewhere else. We did head for Covent Garden, as we hoped to have a drink in a bar afterwards, and there are many possibilities there, not to mention that it's a very lively area, not like our dull residential town. So it'd be a nice change.

I strongly believe that you can only plan so far and you must eventually let the odds decide for you, especially in a strange city (though I must say I used to know London like the back of my hand, but then again, Paris too and things change so fast when you've turned your back for like ten minutes...). The night before that, I had hoped for dinner at Chartier in Paris, but we arrived too lat…